OTT Flexes Muscles In Q2 2015

In the first quarter of this year, many over-the-top (OTT) services, apps and products
steadily made forays into the television industry.

This momentum has greatly continued through quarter two, and as the second
quarter approaches the home stretch, reviewing the gains made by OTT businesses
is worth a look.

On April 7, HBO’s streaming service HBO Now finally went live just in time for
the premiere of “Game of Thrones.” While it has only been available on Apple products, Google
Senior VP Sundar Pichai told attendees of the May I/O developer conference in
San Francisco that it would be appearing on Android this summer.

Also at I/O, Google discussed plans to integrate online
video services directly into the traditional TV grid via its Android TV
platform. We saw this innovation from Channel Master in January, and predicted that it would be imitated.

On April 9, Lionsgate and Comic-Con International announced
a partnership for a U.S. SVOD service, in which historic conference footage,
films and television series would be offered.

“The biggest pop culture event of the year will become a
year-round digital channel for Comic-Con fans and audiences around the
world," said
Jim Packer, Lionsgate president of worldwide television & digital
distribution. "A subscription video-on-demand service is the ideal
platform to capture the magic and excitement of the Comic-Con experience
year-round."

This quarter has featured multiple news releases from Hulu.

Not only did Hulu acquire the streaming rights for all nine seasons of hit 1990s
sitcom “Seinfeld” (which officially begins on June 24), it also put its video
library on set-top boxes for Cablevision, Armstrong, Atlantic Broadband,
Mediacom Communications, Midcontinent Communications and WideOpenWest
subscribers, and the service will be accessible for AT&T customers later
this year.

“The marketplace is exploding,” said
Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins. “It feels like every week I read about the launch a new
streaming service.”

In mid-May, digital music business Spotify revealed an expansion into the video
realm, showcasing alliances with ESPN, ABC, NBCUniversal, Comedy Central,
Turner Broadcasting, Conde Nast Entertainment and Vice News at a press event.

Across the pond, UK film and distribution company Vertigo launched their own on-demand platform, which features movies and
documentaries, while Amazon put forth its Fire For Kids Unlimited subscription
service.

Showtime has scheduled the debut of its eponymous OTT service for early July,
for $10.99/month (compared to $15/month for HBO Now).

“Our intent is to make Showtime available to viewers via every manner possible,
giving them an enormous amount of choice in accessing our programming,” stated
Showtime chairman Matt Blank.

The service will launch on Apple, Roku and Sony PlayStation Vue.

And finally, Chinese tech company Alibaba has made public
plans for its own OTT service.

On June 14, Alibaba head of digital entertainment Patrick Liu announced Tmall Box Office (TBO).

"Our mission, the mission of all of Alibaba, is to redefine home
entertainment," Liu said.
"Our goal is to become like HBO in the United States, to become like
Netflix in the United States."

With so much happening in the first half of the year for OTT, we can’t wait to
see what’s next in Q3.